FXSTD – Alternative Energy Center

By: Hollis Baxter
Biobutanol fuel is gaining a lot of attention lately as an alternative fuel source that may be employed in petrol engines at once. It is a specialized form of butanol made from fermenting biomass that is like typical corn-based ethanol. It however scores above ethanol by being as similarly efficient as gasoline instead of offering a 70% fuel potency that includes regular corn-based ethanol. This suggests you will need less biobutanol to cover the same quantity of distance. It also means that though corn-based ethanol emits less CO2 it does have an inclination to raise food prices and is less efficient fuel use sensible than both diesel and petrol making it a poor applicant as a replacement oil.

Biobutanol offers more power than ethanol but isn't being commercially produced on a big scale due to higher costs. While the process for manufacturing biobutanol is essentially the same as ethanol, the difference in its key ingredient, an enzyme needed for the fermentation process.

It has many edges over ethanol aside of offering more fuel efficiency.

Firstly since ethanol production and biobutanol production are virtually identical, the same facilities may be employed to produce biobutanol commercially.

Secondly biobutanol does not absorb water like ethanol so it wouldn't suffer issues like corrosion or water contamination during transportation.

However the problems of using food as fuel still remain. While ethanol sounds like a reasonable clean source of fuel, the use of corn to make it has pushed up corn costs, which in turn walks up the price of all corn associated food products.

Even if biobutanol doesn't have the potency and transportation issues associated with ethanol it still relies on food crops as its base material.

Current enquiry into sustainable fuels has promoted a replenished interest in biobutanol as a workable alternative. The U.S. Department of Energy issued a grant to ButylFuel, LLC to develop processes to make biobutanol production commercially and economically viable.

There have been limited tests on this claim. According to ButylFuel a vehicle was driven on 100% biobutanol cross country.

The company plans to market biobutanol as a solvent to begin with and as an environment friendly fuel later in the future.